RIVERSIDE — California School for the Deaf-Riverside football coach Keith Adams had one eye on the present and the other on the future when he returned to lead the program in 2017.

Adams wanted to bring a winning culture and mentality back to the program for several reasons, most notably because his two sons, Trevin and Kaden, one day would be suiting up for the Cubs.

The past eight seasons has been quite a journey for the program and the Adams family. The Cubs have gained worldwide attention for their success on the football field, which has included four consecutive trips to the CIF Southern Section finals and back-to-back section championships in 2022 and 2023. CSDR will look to make that a three-peat Friday night, when the Cubs (10-0) make the trip to La Canada to play Flintridge Prep (9-0) for the Southern Section’s 8-person Division 1 championship game. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Friday’s game will be the final ride together at CSDR for Keith and Kaden Adams. Kaden is a senior, and his father said he will be handing the reins over to another coach next season.

“It’s going to be a strange feeling Friday,” Keith Adams said through American Sign Language interpreter Mark Bayarsky. “I have coached Kaden in different sports his whole life.

“Having this opportunity to put CSDR football on the map has been a wonderful experience. And having both of my boys along for that journey has made the experience that much sweeter.”

Adams and wife Carol arrived in Riverside in 2002. Keith took over CSDR’s varsity program in 2005 and immediately guided the Cubs to a 10-0 record during the regular season that first year. He stepped down after the 2008 season and began coaching his sons at the youth levels. CSDR’s high school program was struggling, and Adams decided to take the helm once again.

CSDR was still competing at the 11-person level when Adams returned. The school’s enrollment was dwindling year after year, and a decision was made to switch to 8-person football at the start of the 2018 campaign. Trevin Adams, Keith’s oldest son, was a freshman during the 2019 season, and CSDR earned its long-awaited first postseason win that season.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on CSDR’s athletics programs. The school serves deaf and hard-of-hearing students throughout Southern California, some of whom reside in the campus cottages during the week. There were no in-person classes or athletic events at CSDR during the 2020-21 school year, so the football program’s progress was suddenly halted.

“We were making some good strides forward, and then everything shut down,” Keith Adams said. “It was tough trying to come back and rediscover that after a year of not practicing or playing.”

The 2021 season marked the first of two seasons Keith had the opportunity to coach both of his sons. It’s also the year CSDR started to attract attention across the country.

The Cubs won their first 12 games that season and reached the championship game of the Southern Section’s 8-person Division 1 playoffs. That was a humbling experience, as the Cubs dropped a 74-22 decision to Faith Baptist. However, the game also served as a learning experience for Keith Adams and his players. The Cubs returned the following year and defeated Faith Baptist 80-26 in the 8-person Division 1 final to complete an undefeated season. CSDR beat Faith Baptist again last season to bring home the 8-person Division 2 crown.

“Being able to play in four straight championship games shows how far we have come as a program and who we are today,” said Kaden Adams, who plays quarterback and linebacker for the Cubs. “The school and the deaf community is more recognized now, and some of that is because of what we have done. ... The culture changes every day, and it’s a great feeling to have been part of that.”

Keith Adams also has seen many positive changes over these past four years, and not just from within the program or the deaf community.

“In the past, we would get mocked and laughed at,” he said. “When teams played CSDR, they felt it was given that they were going to beat us. And then things started to flourish. We shook the nation, even the world for that matter. I think more people have respect for us. It’s been an honor to help put CSDR on the map. We have had an impact on many lives, and it’s been great to see that happen.”

Keith Adams has had to tread some careful waters during the years he has coached his two sons.

“When Trevin was a freshman, there were some players who felt he was getting special treatment because he was my son,” Keith Adams said. “We have always tried to set boundaries between coach and player and father and son, and eventually everyone started to see that. I try to treat every player the same, and playing time is earned whether or not you’re my son.”

Kaden Adams has relished the opportunity to be coached by his father and to have been able to play two seasons with his older brother.

“It has been a great experience for me and my family,” Kaden said. “There have been some wonderful moments together, and those are memories that are going to last a lifetime.”

Keith Adams is stepping down after this season to support his daughter, Bellina, who is hearing and will be a freshman student and volleyball player at King beginning in the fall of 2025.

Trevin Adams is currently attending and playing football at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., and Kaden will be joining his brother there next fall.

“I have been a coach the past 27 years, so it’s going to feel weird not doing that for the first time in a long while,” Adams said. “It’s time to refocus myself and to be the supportive father for my daughter, and I’ll also be traveling a lot to see Trevin and Kaden. ... But who knows? Maybe four or five years from now, I’ll make another comeback.”

Kaden knows emotions will be running at a high level Friday night.

“It’s going to be my last day playing high school football and the final game with my father coaching me,” he said. “I would like this feeling to continue forever, but my time is up.”